Tag Archives: Mobile Devices

Ah the New Year. Once we've all had our fill of overeating, sleeping late, and maybe drinking a few too many cups of eggnog, it's time to return to reality, and a slightly more austere daily routine.

But it's also a good time to look back on the past twelve months and consider what we could change for the better in the coming year. At pure mobile, we're doing just that, but with a tech spin.

We're calling out five common bad tech habits to work on in the New Year. But don't worry, we've also got some simple solutions to help you keep your mobile resolutions in 2013.

1. Exercise more

Let's face it, you've probably eaten enough turkey and sweets in the past two weeks to make the prospect of non-elasticized waistbands seem like cruel and unnecessary punishment. And, if you're like most of us, even if you return to your normal diet, you'll still find a couple of extra pounds you'd like to lose after all that feasting.

The funny thing is, no one bats an eye when someone they're talking to checks their watch, but whipping out your smartphone mid-conversation is still considered pretty rude. So, if you can't completely break the bad habit of checking your phone constantly (whether someone is talking to you or not), you can at least try an be a little less obvious about it.

If you have the bad habit of consistently texting and talking on the phone while you drive, your resolution this year should probably be to drive more safely. Lucky for you, keeping that resolution should be easy with a good car kit, like Blue Ant's S4 Bluetooth Car Kit.

It's totally voice-controlled so you never have to take your hands off the wheel or your eyes off the road. And it comes loaded with features, like a 2,000 phone number capacity, text to speech for caller ID, background noise reduction, and multipoint capabilities so you can connect 2 phones at a time.

Don't get us wrong. Text messages are great, succinct, to the point. But there are just some things that are best left to the long form of letters and email. If you find yourself texting things like "luv u" and "srry yur grandma died," make an effort this year to say more, even if you're sending a message from your touchscreen phone.

Design concept from earlier this year for an iSiri Smartwatch from Frederico Ciccarese

This wouldn't be the first time – remember Frederico Ciccarese's design concept for an iSiri smartwatch? – but rumors have been circulating about the possibility of an Apple-branded smartwatch in the coming months.

A report (via Chinese news portal 163.com) has been making the rounds on Mashable and 9to5Mac, among others, claiming that Apple and Intel are working together on a Bluetooth-enabled smartwatch that could be released as early as the first quarter of 2013.

The rumored iWatch may work like Sony Mobile's SmartWatch, which syncs with your smartphone and keeps you discreetly updated

Then, there are watch-style cases from accessories makers like Lunatik and Griffin that turn devices you already own, like an iPod nano, into a wrist-wearable smart device.

So, how would an Apple-sanctioned smartwatch differ from any of these? According to the report's sources on the Chinese supply chain, the iWatch would share some elements of other smartwatches. like Sony's device, it would be Bluteooth-enabled and sync to your smartphone, as long as it's an iPhone that is.

It would also be fairly dainty, roughly the size of an iPod nano with an 1.5" OLED display. Such a device, argues 9to5Mac, "could make sense for a future, Bluetooth 4.0-enabled iPod nano. Though they also note that its unlikely would choose to partner with Intel on a such a "low-powered, mobile product."

They may look like Christmas ornaments in the above pic, but today's pick for mobile accessory of the week, the XMI X-Mini II Capsule Speaker, is probably more fit as a stocking stuffer.

These diminutive pod speakers may be small, but they pack big sound. And since they're compatible with pretty much every laptop, smartphone or media player out there – from iPod and iPhone to BlackBerry and Android handsets – there's a thousand and one uses for them.

XMI's X-Mini II Capsule Speaker is compatible with almost every laptop, media player, or smartphone out there

First is their size. Truly mini, this round little ball of a speaker fits in the palm of your hand and is small enough to easily slip in your pocket.

But don't be fooled. Just one of these babies can produce a nice loud sound that's full and clear. Plus, their Bass Xpansion System will give you top notch bass performance – none of that tinny nonsense you normally get from upping your laptop's volume to the max.

Not to get too personal here, but I've used them in lieu of a sound system at parties and they really do give volume and clarity that rivals a stereo, except you can use them anywhere: in the car, outdoors, whatever.

You can interconnect a bunch of X-Mini II Capsule Speakers for a crazy daisy chain of super volume

Though one X-Mini Capsule Speaker is usually enough, if you're really looking for movie theatre-level volume, they've each got a Buddy Jack, so you can connect a few together to make a crazy daisy chain of sound.

Lastly, we love them because they look as good as they sound. Compact, round and neat, they come in a huge range of colors, from basic black and silver to green, blue, orange, red, pink and even purple.

You could even hang a bunch of red and green ones on your tree this year instead of decorations and see how long it takes for all the pine needles to blow off. We're guessing it wouldn't take long.

The search results aren't likely to be an error, says AppleInsider, citing as evidence a report from September that "showed an Online Apple Store iPhone comparison page that revealed the prices of unlocked versions bound for the U.S. and Canada."

Those prices, writes AppleInsider, are "in line" with those found on Apple's website. And though similar prices for unlocked iPhone 5s was already available from certain carriers, the news here is "that Apple could soon be joining those ranks for such off-contract sales," writes Mashable.

As for when we can expect unlocked versions of the iPhone 5 to be available directly through Apple, Mashable and AppleInsider alike cite a theory that says they're likely to be up for grabs once the supply of iPhone 5s starts to catch up with the demand.

The upcoming 2012 Presidential Election is likely to be more closely followed on mobile devices than any other in U.S. history. Voters will be keeping up with the election on their smartphones with polls and political news, as well as on social media.

But how, exactly, will smartphones figure into this election and, ultimately, who will smartphone owners be voting for?

Mashable reported on a new study from ad network Mojiva, which surveyed smartphone owners 18 and up to get answers to some of those questions.

According to Mojiva, people who use smartphones are more likely to vote for Obama on November 6. 47% of those polled said they identify themselves as Democrats, while only 28% identified themselves as Republicans.

Either way, 82% of respondents said they are planning to vote – a very high rate compared to the actual voter turnout for the past two elections which were below 60%.

In the lead-up to voting day, more Democrats than Republicans will be reading political news on their smartphones (63% vs. 59%), but more Republicans than Democrats will be researching the candidates (53% vs. 50%).

Come election day, over half of respondents said that they would be using an iPhone or an Android-powered smartphone to check results throughout the day.

But many of the respondents said they would use their phone to do even more if they could. When asked if they would use their smartphone to vote if they had the option to, 59% said they would, while a whopping 85% said they would at least consider doing so.

What about you? Do you plan on using your smartphone to follow the elections? If so, how? Let us know in the comments section.

LG’s high-end Androidsmartphone offerings have been somewhat disappointing in the past. As such, when we caught wind of the upcoming LG X3 superphone we were unsure how to react in expectation of this new device. However, based on the information provided Paul O’Brien of MoDaCo, the anonymously leaked screenshots and benchmarks for this handset, LG may have a winner on its hands when they unveil the LC X3 as their new flagship device at this month’s Mobile World Congress.

What can we glean from the screenshots? They suggest that the X3 will have either a lightly skinned version of LG’s overlay running or simply stock Android ICS (4.0.3). The quad-core processor previously mentioned should mean great performance for everyday tasks. And with 16GB internal memory that can be expanded to 48GB thanks to an internal microSD slot, a power processor helps ensure that users have the space to download, stream, and share their music, photos and other data.

Interested consumers may look forward to seeing a 2000mAh battery, 8 megapixel rear-facing camera that supposedly rocks an uber fast shutter. The front-facing camera isn’t as impressive, but will get the job done in a pinch. Through in an NFC chip and you can one of those neat NFC chip enable smartphone protective case wallets that bring a new meaning to fashion and function.

We are optimistic that LG will bring a worthy contender to the Mobile World Congress and dispel the misgivings and fears of those that been scared off by less than stellar mobile OS experiences with LG. If they fall flat, at least we will not be adrift in an Android-less sea of smartphone offerings from other manufacturers.

Riddle me this Batman: what exactly is an exabyte? Technically it is “a unit of information or computer storage equal to 1quintillion bytes.” Wrapping your head around this large of a number is like trying to fathom the national debt of the United States and all of its ramifications.

So when we saw Cisco’s Visual Networking Forecast that shows global mobile data traffic projection for the next five years, the numbers were similarly difficult to swallow: 10.8 exabytes per month. To put it in perspective, this is an 18-fold increase from today’s data consumption. And with 71% of this massive amount of data will be consumed by cloud traffic and the approximate 10 billion mobile Internet-connected devices projected to be in use in 2016.

With the world population expected to be 7.3 billion, these numbers point to a trend of consumers toting around more than one device. They will be streaming video, data, and music at faster speeds on their tablets, smartphones, iPod, MacBooks and laptops televisions thanks to quickly adopted technology from LTE networks to the actual devices. More specifically, it is the jump in smartphone adoption that is the driving force in these huge data growth projections as this will account for 8 billion of the 10 billion devices expected to be in use.

This staggering number of devices and leaps in technology will likely have a domino effect where consumers will require smarter accessories to integrate their devices into daily life without becoming cumbersome. And, with this kind of huge adoption of technology and cloud services, the question of what role the telecommunication giants will have comes into play. Even now we are seeing a shift towards internet-based services and unlocked cell phones that provide consumers with other choices beyond the traditional carriers.

Wherever the trends and technology go, we will be sure to keep you apprised as they change and shape a different future.

Ah the Super Bowl – the height of both gridiron and consumerism competition. The game pits the top two football teams in the United States against one another - while advertisers bring out the big guns and vie for the attention of the millions of congregated viewers.

While the New York Giants battled it out with the New England Patriots, Samsung decided to take the offensive against Apple with a string of anti-Apple advertisements. The crowning moments was a 90-second commercial that cost a cool $10 million to snag the airtime. The following video is the Samsung's actual Apple bashing commercial aired during the Super Bowl.

The ad series pitches Samsung as the “cool” alternative to Apple’s iPhone; the Super Bowl commercial promoted their upcoming smartphone launch, the Galaxy Note, which will available at AT&T later this month. This device is also available as an unlocked cell phone, empower consumers with the freedom to choose the right carrier with the right service at the right price.

The premise of the 90 second clip is a scene of the now infamous Apple Store line where customers are waiting to buy the latest Apple device. “I believe in a thing called love” is the soundtrack and the grey scene is brought to life in the form of a block party with Samsung Galaxy Note devices falling from the sky like manna.

As the poster child of Android, Samsung is in a great position to compete with Apple. With its own line of Galaxy tablets, apps, and accessories, the South Korean vendor has converted its fair share of customers. These ads will certainly amp up interest in the upcoming launch which will be augmented with the Mobile World Conference this month where the best in docking stations, speakers, and other peripheral devices including glider gloves will help win over those consumers on the fence.

Motorola has done it again! Introducing a new Droid RAZR! This one was launched last Thursday by Verizon and has the likely moniker of “DROID RAZR MAXX.” As with any other mobile carrier, the handset is available at a discounted price when a new two-year agreement is signed. The asking price is $299.99. With that kind of out of pocket investment and a signed contract, this writer would highly recommend consumers to shop around for an unlocked cell phone. These unlocked cell phones empower consumers to break free service provider long term contracts and permit to negotiate a plan that best meets your lifestyle needs at the lowest price.

Compared to its predecessor, the DROID RAZR, this latest Motorola is housed in a thicker frame (only slightly). After that the differences are nominal. In fact, Droid-Life affirmed rumors that each of these devices runs on exactly the same software. Even the Android versions for both the DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX are the same kernel, build number, and baseband version. The community forums have some miffed participants that accuse Motorola of simply charging customers for a new battery, but this streamlined user of software should actually make things easier on the manufacturer, carrier, and consumer.

Discover the Droid RAZR MAXX in this insightful video :

Smartphone manufacturers are known for making slight changes and rebranding devices. This allows the newest handsets to accommodate tech changes by tweaking the software versions from the old to the new device. Some examples of this are the DROID 2 and DROID R2D2. The silver lining is that as the DROID RAZR and RAZR MAXX, it will all be interchangeable which permits tech-savvy users to take advantage of a wide range of custom ROMs.

Alas, with the slight variation in size, all accessories may not be interchangeable. But with the internal specs unchanged, peripheral devices and more technical accessory purchases should meet the system requirements of both smartphones.

The hype and buzz have died down a bit from CES, now we are on our way to the build up and news out of the Mobile World Congress. So without further ado, let’s fill you in on the latest HTC cell phone - the HTC Ville. Get a detailed review of the svelte metal uni-body design that is less than 8mm thick that is HTC Ville.

Potential customers can expect an Android 4.0 mobile OS which will please those who don’t want to have to wait for their device to roll out upgrades. Additional specs are Sense 4.0, a 4.3 Super AMOLED display, with a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor under the hood. What’s really exciting is that this Snapdragon’s Qualcomm Krait CPU will increase performance by 60% compared to the existing Scorpion micro-architecture in previous Snapdragon versions. A face-lifted Adreno 225 GPU will make graphics perform 50% faster too. Get ready for a little zoom zoom in your HTC Ville! Get a complete view of the HTC Ville preliminary specs at GSM Arena